Two separate times-- TWO SEPARATE TIMES--in less than 24 hours during broad daylight, a group of guys thought it would be funny to yell derogatory terms at me, and degrade me because they found it entertaining.
The first time, I was walking alone in the middle of the day to an event on campus that I helped to plan and a group of guys walked behind me. One of them yelled "Hey baby! You're looking good," all his friends laughed and I didn't respond. Again he yelled "Oh, she think she can't talk to us! She's too good for that!" Again, I didn't respond. I picked up my pace to try and make it to my destination quicker and the same group of guys followed me and rated parts of my body loudly and to each other as punishment for not responding. By the time I made it to the building I just felt sick and degraded. I had to fight back tears before walking into this event that I was supposed to be happy about.
The second time, I was walking to my campus cafeteria for dinner. I had a long t-shirt and ball shorts on--nothing particularly fancy to eat in. Again, it was still early in the day. As I approached the building, another group of guys saw me and one yelled "Damn! Look at that booty" and his friend said "How you doin?" I quickly walked past them and as I approached the glass door entrance to my cafeteria, I saw the reflection of the guys I had just encountered. One of them had stopped and turned around and was looking me up and down as I was walking into the building.
These two encounters made me feel so degraded, like all I am worth to men in this world is how good my body looks to them. It made me feel like my sole purpose is to entertain a group of guys and flatter their need to feel masculine by making a woman feel lesser.
But I have news for you, men who cat call women: I am not a cat. Don't call at me like one. If you want to speak with me, you can address me like a human being. You should probably try not yelling at me from a distance so you look good in front of your buddies. You should probably try noticing my personality before you notice parts of my body. And to the one who said I was "too good" to respond to you and your friends... Yes, you are correct. I am too good to be treated like that. I am too good to just be yelled at like an animal. I am too good to be disrespected by you. And as much as I hate to say it, you are too good to be disrespected like that because you are a human being, too. I wouldn't do it to you and you shouldn't do it to me.
Praise God that I know what I am worth to Him, to this world and to a man who would genuinely value me instead of view me as something to indulge himself with. Thank God that your words only sting for a moment before I remember that you aren't the one who speaks to my identity. Also, I apologize to you-- someone did you an incredible disservice by not teaching you to value all people equally. I hope you learn soon to treat people with kindness and respect because you won't make it far in life without that knowledge. I hope that one day when you have a daughter of your own, or if you find yourself a woman that you value with the highest regard that no one treats her the way that you have treated me.
I hope you have learned something here.
